Seth
Seth (Hebrew: שֵׁת, Standard Šet, Tiberian ; Shith or Shiyth; "Placed; appointed"), in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is the third listed son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, who are the only other of their children mentioned by name. According to , Seth was born after the slaying of Abel by Cain, and Eve believed God had appointed him as a replacement for Abel. In the Hebrew Bible According to Genesis, Seth was born when Adam was 130 years old "a son in his likeness and image." The genealogy is repeated at . states that Adam fathered "sons and daughters" before his death, aged 930 years. In , there is a folk etymology for Seth's name, which derives it from the Hebrew word for "plant" as in "plant a seed" (syt). Eve says, "God has planted another seed, under/replacing Abel's". Seth lived to the age of 912. Book of Jubilees The Book of Jubilees also dates his birth to 130 AM.The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, R.H. Charles, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913. Book of Jubilees 4:7-13. ISBN 978-0974762371. According to the Book of Jubilees, in 231 AM Seth married his sister, Azura, who was 4 years younger than he was. In the year 235 AM, Azura gave birth to Enos. In Jewish tradition Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaqi) refers to Seth as the ancestor of Noah and hence the father of all mankind, all other humans having perished in the Great Flood. In gnosticism, Seth is seen as a replacement given by God for Abel, whom Cain had slain. It is said that late in life, Adam gave Seth secret teachings that would become the kabbalah. The Zohar refers to Seth as "ancestor of all the generations of the tzaddikim" (Hebrew: righteous ones).Zohar 1:36b According to Seder Olam Rabbah, based on Jewish reckoning, he was born in 130 AM. According to Aggadah, he had 33 sons and 23 daughters. According to the Seder Olam Rabbah, he died in 1042 AM. In Islam Islamic tradition reveres Seth as the gift bestowed upon Adam after the death of Abel. Although not one of the prophets mentioned in the Qur'an, Muslims see Seth as a prophet like his father, and the one who continued teaching mankind after the death of Adam.Stories of the Prophets, Ibn Kathir, Story of Adam and Seth Islamic lore gives Seth an exalted position among the Antediluvian Patriarchs of the Generations of Adam, and some sources even cite Seth as the receiver of a scripture.Encyclopedia of Islam, Shith, Online Web. Islamic literature holds that Seth was born when Adam was past 100 and that, by the time Adam died, Adam had already made Seth the heir to him in guiding the "Children of Adam". Muslims hold that Seth was taught of the hours of day and night as well as of the Great Flood to come and was further taught to pray to God during the hours of the night. Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, traces the genealogy of mankind back to Seth, since Abel did not leave any heirs and Cain's heirs, according to tradition, were destroyed by the Great Flood.Tabari, History of the Prophets and Kings, Vol. I: Creation to the Flood Some Muslims believe that Seth's tomb is located in the village of Al-Nabi Shayth (literally meaning The Prophet Seth) where a mosque is named after him. In Josephus In the Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus refers to Seth as virtuous and of excellent character, and reports that his descendants invented the wisdom of the heavenly bodies, and built the "pillars of the sons of Seth", two pillars inscribed with many scientific discoveries and inventions, notably in astronomy. They were built by Seth's descendants based on Adam's prediction that the world would be destroyed at one time by fire and another time by global flood, in order to protect the discoveries and be remembered after the destruction. One was composed of brick, and the other of stone, so that if the pillar of brick should be destroyed, the pillar of stone would remain, both reporting the ancient discoveries, and informing men that a pillar of brick was also erected. Josephus reports that the pillar of stone remained in the land of Siriad in his day. William Whiston, a 17/18th century translator of the Antiquities, stated in a footnote that he believed Josephus mistook Seth for Sesostris, king of Egypt, the erector of the referenced pillar in Siriad (being a contemporary name for the territories in which Sirius was venerated (i.e., Egypt). He stated that there was no way for any pillars of Seth to survive the deluge, because the deluge buried all such pillars and edifices far underground in the sediment of its waters. In Christian tradition The 2nd century BC Book of Jubilees, regarded as non-canonical except by Coptic Christianity, says that in 231 AM Seth married his sister, Azura, who was 4 years younger than he was. In the year 235 AM, Azura gave birth to Enos. Seth is commemorated as one of the Holy Forefathers in the Calendar of Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church, along with Adam, Abel, and others, with a feast day on July 26. He is also included in the Genealogy of Jesus, according to Luke 3:23–28. See also *Sethian *Knights of Seth *Biblical longevity References Category:Adam and Eve Category:Gnosticism Category:Old Testament saints Category:Torah people ar:شيث az:Şeys peyğəmbər be-x-old:Сіф bo:སེད། bs:Šit ca:Set (Gènesi) cs:Šét cy:Seth de:Set (Bibel) et:Sett el:Σηθ es:Set (judaísmo) eo:Set fa:شیث fr:Seth (Bible) ko:세트 (성경) hr:Šet id:Set it:Set (Bibbia) he:שת hu:Séth (Biblia) ms:Nabi Syith nl:Seth (persoon) ja:セト (聖書) no:Set (bibelsk person) nds:Seth (Bibel) pl:Set (syn Adama) pt:Seth (Santo Patriarca) ru:Сиф sk:Šét fi:Set sv:Set (Bibeln) ur:شیث علیہ السلام yi:שת zh:塞特